– SHANNON “THE CANNON” RITCH RESPONDS

Photo provided by PrideFC.
In another MMAWeekly exclusive, Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch responded to Jeff Weller’s allegation that his fight with Dan Severn over the weekend was a work. If you didn’t hear what Weller had to say on today’s broadcast, listen to the show in the radio archive.

Shannon Ritch wasn’t happy with what Jeff Weller had to say. He made that clear. “That guy’s an asshole man.” Ritch told MMAWeekly. When asked point blank if the fight with Severn was a work, Shannon responded, F#%k no that wasn’t a work!”

Further commenting, Shannon said, “I haven’t heard the interview, just people have been calling me telling me that my fight was a work, and that I’m a bum, and all this other stuff. That’s some bullshit dude. My fight with Dan Severn was real. That was a legit fight. I went out there to win. I had him in a heel hook. I cranked it harder than I’ve cranked it on anybody. He almost tapped if you look at the tape. His hand, he almost tapped. As far as I know, that was a real fight.”

Ritch added, “On my end, I wasn’t involved in a work. You know what I mean? I came to fight. They paid me to fight, and I showed up, and I fought. I did my best to win that fight. You know I could have stopped in the first round because Dan Severn threw me, and I hurt my back. I mean physically I was, I even told my corner man I was hurt. My back hurt. They were like dude you’re winning the fight, keep going, so I even continued into the second round. So all these people that tell me hey you know Shannon Ritch, the first sign of injury, he quits, hey man I went through that, and I kept fighting. You know what I mean? I went to the second round.”

Weller didn’t only say Ritch’s fight with Severn in Hawaii was a work, but that their first bout in Alaska was a work as well. Shannon said, “No. That was not a work. This isn’t the WWF man. This is MMA.”

Shannon urges people to watch the fight. He cited how hard his leg kicks were being thrown and the bruising to Severn’s legs. “I caught him in a triangle, I’m punching him in the face as hard as I can. I mean you tell me.” He continued, “That’s what’s funny because I’ve been getting phone calls all day. Hey man every body’s saying your fight was a work, and I’m like dude that was a real fight. That’s why I took the fight because it was a rematch, because I thought I was winning the first fight, and they asked if I wanted a rematch. Hell yeah I want a rematch because I can beat Dan.”

Ritch went on to say, “I think Jeff Weller’s just a little pissed off because at the after-fight party he got caught smoking a joint, and the bouncers threw him out. It kind of embarrassed him because everyone else, all of the fighters were inside. Jeff Monson, myself, and some other people, and he’s smoking some joints, you know, some marijuana, and gets kicked out of the club, so that kind of ruined his time. So who was there? Shannon “The Cannon,” so what does he do? He has to go and start talking shit about me. That’s not cool.”

Closing out the interview, Shannon reiterated that the fight was not a work. “That fight was definitely a real fight. I’ve done one work in my entire career, and that was a pro wrestling match in Japan against Matsui. Obviously everybody knows that who watches pro wrestling. That was a work. That’s pro wrestling.”

“That’s my response. Point blank quote from Shannon ‘The Cannon’ is know that fight was real. It was not a work. Watch the fight, and you guys decide for yourself…A worked fight is not what MMA is about. A worked fight is pro wrestling, so that’s my viewpoint on that.”